73 E3
Active Member
First time showing this on here. I was given the car by my grandfather before he passed away a few years back. The car had 67,000 original miles on it before I started working on it. It had been in dry storage for the last 20 years. I started doing a rolling rebuild back in May and this is how the car currently sits. Here's a quick list of what I've changed.
-Rebuilt the stock Zeniths
-Rebuilt the factory starter
-Rebuilt the factory alternator (now puts out 75 amps)
-New Fuel Pump
-Pertronix flamethrower coil
-Bavarian Autosport 8mm ignition wires
-New rotor and dizzy cap
-Every coolant and vacuum hose replaced
-Re-cored factory radiator (High efficiency core)
-New Thermostat
-New Water pump
-New Belts
-9 Blade fan with later style clutch
-All new fuel lines
-Braided stainless brake lines
-New Clutch master cylinder
-New Brake master cylinder
-Brembo rotors
-Ceramic brake pads
-KYB GR-2 front strut inserts
-KYB Gas-A-Just rear shocks
-Suspension Techniques springs (A bit lower, and notably stiffer)
-New strut mounts and bearings
-Removed front strut spacer rings
-New control arms/ball joints (both sides)
-Repainted factory steel wheels (trim rings and hub caps were virtually new)
-Had seats re-padded with hi-density foam to replace horse hair
-E21 Sport steering wheel
-New Yoko tires (great deal on tirerack)
-New downpipes
-NOS Supersprint exhaust (my uncle had lying around in his garage)
-H4 low/highs, 100W H1 highs
-Blaupunkt 6.5" coaxial speakers front and rear
-Blaupunkt MP54 Bahamas Receiver
And much more that I'm probably forgetting. Now on to the current situation. The car was Ziebarted back in the 70's and was treated
everywhere, inside the doors, undercarriage, engine compartment, etc.. There are no signs of rust anywhere except for the tail edge of the LF fender where something must have been run over. The car was repainted in the early 80's with an enamel paint with clear coat mixed in and is still in very good condition.
Now on to the bad...
The car ran when it was parked 20 years ago, but it was never started while in storage, the engine got stuck from sitting. Before I did anything on the car, I removed the spark plugs and liberally used Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders to free the rings up. I put a breaker bar on the crank and was able to free the engine up. It was frozen solid and required a breaker bar with a 3' pipe extension to get the leverage needed to break it loose. I have yet to do a leakdown test (that is next on my list), but the compression test I did came back decent. I had 149 psi in one or two cylinders and the lowest was around 135psi.
After getting the carbs set up the engine fired right up on the first attempt, albeit with some valve noise. I put fresh oil and a filter in it before attempting to start the engine. I ran it for a few days and then adjusted the valves to .0012 IIRC when hot. Valve noise went away, but the problem I'm currently having is oil usage. Now I know it's normal for these engines to consume a quart per every 3K miles, but this thing is drinking oil at a quart per every 100 miles, a bit excessive. It does not smoke at idle, but does smoke blue while under load or under deceleration. I'm sure its either a broken ring(s) or dried up valve seals.
I'm currently away at college, and my plans are to pull the engine over winter break and rebuild the engine. I was initially just going to re-ring and do a valve job. But I'm thinking of doing a complete overhaul. I purchased a M30B35 with a Getrag 262CR last fall that I had planned on putting in the car initially, but decided to try the car with the stock drivetrain at first. I do not know much about the condition of the 3.5L other than I was told it had ~100K miles on it, it has triple Mikuni sidedrafts on a Korman manifold, and I was told an Alpina headgasket. The carbs are in need of a rebuild. I'm thinking of selling this engine and tranny to fund the stock rebuild. My other thought is to rebuild the 3.5L and use the Zeniths and all accessories off my 3.0L. What kind of $$$ can I expect to shell out for a rebuild, just parts (I will be doing the labor). I'm not looking to spend an arm and a leg, I just want a reliable, smoke free engine.
Any comments are welcome.
-Rebuilt the stock Zeniths
-Rebuilt the factory starter
-Rebuilt the factory alternator (now puts out 75 amps)
-New Fuel Pump
-Pertronix flamethrower coil
-Bavarian Autosport 8mm ignition wires
-New rotor and dizzy cap
-Every coolant and vacuum hose replaced
-Re-cored factory radiator (High efficiency core)
-New Thermostat
-New Water pump
-New Belts
-9 Blade fan with later style clutch
-All new fuel lines
-Braided stainless brake lines
-New Clutch master cylinder
-New Brake master cylinder
-Brembo rotors
-Ceramic brake pads
-KYB GR-2 front strut inserts
-KYB Gas-A-Just rear shocks
-Suspension Techniques springs (A bit lower, and notably stiffer)
-New strut mounts and bearings
-Removed front strut spacer rings
-New control arms/ball joints (both sides)
-Repainted factory steel wheels (trim rings and hub caps were virtually new)
-Had seats re-padded with hi-density foam to replace horse hair
-E21 Sport steering wheel
-New Yoko tires (great deal on tirerack)
-New downpipes
-NOS Supersprint exhaust (my uncle had lying around in his garage)
-H4 low/highs, 100W H1 highs
-Blaupunkt 6.5" coaxial speakers front and rear
-Blaupunkt MP54 Bahamas Receiver
And much more that I'm probably forgetting. Now on to the current situation. The car was Ziebarted back in the 70's and was treated
everywhere, inside the doors, undercarriage, engine compartment, etc.. There are no signs of rust anywhere except for the tail edge of the LF fender where something must have been run over. The car was repainted in the early 80's with an enamel paint with clear coat mixed in and is still in very good condition.
Now on to the bad...
The car ran when it was parked 20 years ago, but it was never started while in storage, the engine got stuck from sitting. Before I did anything on the car, I removed the spark plugs and liberally used Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders to free the rings up. I put a breaker bar on the crank and was able to free the engine up. It was frozen solid and required a breaker bar with a 3' pipe extension to get the leverage needed to break it loose. I have yet to do a leakdown test (that is next on my list), but the compression test I did came back decent. I had 149 psi in one or two cylinders and the lowest was around 135psi.
After getting the carbs set up the engine fired right up on the first attempt, albeit with some valve noise. I put fresh oil and a filter in it before attempting to start the engine. I ran it for a few days and then adjusted the valves to .0012 IIRC when hot. Valve noise went away, but the problem I'm currently having is oil usage. Now I know it's normal for these engines to consume a quart per every 3K miles, but this thing is drinking oil at a quart per every 100 miles, a bit excessive. It does not smoke at idle, but does smoke blue while under load or under deceleration. I'm sure its either a broken ring(s) or dried up valve seals.
I'm currently away at college, and my plans are to pull the engine over winter break and rebuild the engine. I was initially just going to re-ring and do a valve job. But I'm thinking of doing a complete overhaul. I purchased a M30B35 with a Getrag 262CR last fall that I had planned on putting in the car initially, but decided to try the car with the stock drivetrain at first. I do not know much about the condition of the 3.5L other than I was told it had ~100K miles on it, it has triple Mikuni sidedrafts on a Korman manifold, and I was told an Alpina headgasket. The carbs are in need of a rebuild. I'm thinking of selling this engine and tranny to fund the stock rebuild. My other thought is to rebuild the 3.5L and use the Zeniths and all accessories off my 3.0L. What kind of $$$ can I expect to shell out for a rebuild, just parts (I will be doing the labor). I'm not looking to spend an arm and a leg, I just want a reliable, smoke free engine.
Any comments are welcome.
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